Contribución al desarrollo de las competencias básicas

To be able to apply the concept of sustainable forest management as clearly and as simply as possible, it is necessary to describe it in terms of guiding principles, criteria and corresponding indicators (Vermaet al., 2000). For example, an overview by the Food and Agriculture Organization of such initiatives (Lanly, 1995) shows a consensus on the characterization of sustainable forest management through seven criteria. The seven thematic elements of sustainable forest management are as described below and are based on the nine ongoing regional/international processes on criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and have been acknowledged by FAO member countries and the UNFF.

i) Extent of forest resources

The theme expresses an overall desire to have adequate forest cover and stocking, including trees outside forests, to support the social, economic and environmental dimensions of forestry. For example, the existence and extent of specific forest types are important as a basis for conservation efforts. The theme encompasses ambitions to reduce deforestation and to restore and rehabilitate degraded forest landscapes. It also includes the important function of forests and trees outside forests to store carbon and thereby contribute to moderating the global climate.

ii) Biological diversity

The theme concerns the conservation and management of biological diversity at ecosystem (landscape), species and genetic levels. Such conservation, including the protection of areas with fragile ecosystems, ensures that diversity of life is maintained, and provides opportunities to develop new products in the future, including medicines. Genetic improvement is also a means of increasing forest productivity, for example to ensure high wood production levels in intensively managed forests.

iii) Forest health and vitality

Forests need to be managed so that the risks and impacts of unwanted disturbances are minimized, including wildfires, airborne pollution, storm felling, invasive species, pests, diseases and insects. Such disturbances may impact social and economic as well as environmental dimensions of forestry.

iv) Productive functions of forest resources

primary forest products, while at the same time ensuring that production and harvesting are sustainable and do not compromise the management options of future generations.

v) Protective functions of forest resources

The theme addresses the role of forests and trees outside forests in moderating soil, hydrological and aquatic systems, maintaining clean water (including healthy fish populations) and reducing the risks and impacts of floods, avalanches, erosion and drought. Protective functions of forest resources also contribute to ecosystem conservation efforts and have strong cross-sectoral aspects, because the benefits to agriculture and rural livelihoods are high.

vi) Socio-economic functions

The theme covers the contributions of forest resources to the overall economy, for example through employment, values generated through processing and marketing of forest products, and energy, trade and investment in the forest sector. It also addresses the important forest function of hosting and protecting sites and landscapes of high cultural, spiritual or recreational value, and thus includes aspects of land tenure, indigenous and community management systems, and traditional knowledge.

vii) Legal, policy and institutional framework

The theme includes the legal, policy and institutional arrangements necessary to support the above six themes, including participatory decision-making, governance and law enforcement, and monitoring and assessment of progress. It also involves broader societal aspects, including fair and equitable use of forest resources, scientific research and education, infrastructure arrangements to support the forest sector, transfer of technology, capacity-building, and public information and communication.

The complexity of sustainable forest management makes the extent of its achievement not to be a definitive one (FAO, 2006). However, there are many good signs and positive trends, but many negative trends remain. While intensive forest plantation and conservation efforts are on the rise, primary forests continue to become degraded or converted to agriculture at alarming rates in some regions. As the analyses of the thematic areas above illustrate, the answer to sustainable forest management also depends on the scale and perspective applied.

Implementation of sustainable forest management, which addresses the economic, social and environmental functions of forests, is an important approach to ensuring a balance between the objectives of production and conservation. Traditional methods for assessing the above criteria and associated changes and impacts on forest ecosystems have typically treated the socioeconomic and ecological effects independently (Dale et al., 1993). To understand deforestation process in general and factors affecting sustainable forest management practices, data on physical changes of forest cover have to be linked with socioeconomic data and candidate driving forces that govern these changes (Geist & Lambin et al., 2001; Moran, 1993). Maintaining critical ecosystem functions is a key pillar of sustainable forest management. „Close-to-nature silviculture‟ and the „ecosystems approach‟ are essentially variants of sustainable forest management, giving greater emphasis to environmental services.

While the concept of sustainable forest management is accepted as the framework for managing forests in most countries, its implementation differs considerably among them. Barriers to its adoption are relatively few where institutions are well developed and society is able to meet the higher costs, as is the case in many developed countries. However, in low- income situations, sustainable forest management faces far more constraints, reflecting limited

environmental criteria. Consequently, in the tropics, the proportion of forests that are sustainably managed remains very low (ITTO, 2006).